Charlie’s In A Wheel Lot Of Trouble!

Since joining Moby and the Red Arrows (congrats by the way on your Scooter LeJog guys) at Wheeldon Farm I have been banging on about it to all and sundry. One such participant in my exhuberant detail was the brother-in-law Glenn. He raised the stakes somewhat and said I should give competition a go, as he has in the past, and I of course said “definitely lets do it!”.

Charlie gets a taste of the high life in Devon

Well having spent a week holidaying I returned to a text stating that I had to go round as there was something new in our shared lock up, and shit – he’s serious, real serious! The orange glow of an ’03 KTM 450 EXC greeted me. Glenn had contacted one of his old MX mates and they had this beauty for sale. Electric start, WP Suspension fore and aft, legal for the road and pretty much ready to go. Few things to be done – strip and polish the swing arm, new rear tyre, bearings check, pads and fluids.

So now its my turn to source a new joy to sit next to the KTM, though it won’t be as bonkers as this bad boy. Glenn has more experience than I and am sure will be able to handle the gnarly 450. I myself will follow the advice of my peers and look for something more suitable to my level of experience – one BMW Off Road experience and two visits to Wheeldon does not really prepare me for what is to come.

There are seven local meets to Bath starting in February, a full range of categories from ‘Novice’ to ‘Expert’ to the ‘over 50’s’ so I should find a slot for me somewhere. So I need a bike, practice and a whole lot of fitness in preparation for what should be a very Interesting series…. Watch this space – but I’m off to Wheeldon Farm again next weekend for some bike time.